Ranking The New Adventures of Bernice Summerfield

Strongly agreed, with just two exceptions: I would personally rate Volumes 1 and 2 a little higher (let’s say between 4 and 4.5/5, depending on my mood), though more for odd and personal nostalgic reasons.

Both sets really put Benny through the wringer — a challenge Lisa Bowerman always lives up to — in a way that evokes a very specific and raw feeling I recall from the Virgin New Adventures novels. At worst those books bordered on torture porn. At best they offered a sense that the heroes had truly sacrificed something of themselves on the path to a hard-won, well-earned victory. Reading those as a teenager was often an emotional sucker-punch; one that left me numb and staring at the ceiling of my bedroom hours later. For good or ill, I had the same lingering feelings here.

Not always an easy listen, nor something I’d want to experience often (and I’m SO GLAD this bleakness is no longer the default tone of Doctor Who stories), but they’re “of an era” and interesting to revisit as period pieces. It’s fascinating to me that the ‘90s novels can be treated like any other distinct era of the show that Big Finish can tap into. It brings some legitimacy to the wilderness years that I find quite touching all these decades later.

Both sets felt like more than the sum of their parts and left a lasting impression.

They are, however, functionally a different series to the Unbound sets. You’re not missing out by starting with David Warner. In light of what follows, they’ll always be a side attraction you can visit later if you want.

Volumes 3-4 are pure delight. Joyful, emotional, funny, immensely satisfying. Some of Big Finish’s finest releases. It’s hard to overstate just how special the chemistry is between Warner/Bowerman.

5 and 6 offer slightly diminishing returns. They’re looser themed collections without arcs to really hold them together. Which is a fine and valid change of pace for a series to try! There are excellent stories among them (Vol. 5 in particular), and again, the wonderful chemistry between the leads is worth the price of admission alone.

Blood and Steel is worthy of every bit of praise, and so much more. It gave me an interesting feeling of coming full circle back to the rawness of volumes 1-2, though the anguish here is so much more organic and appropriate given the setting and subject matter. A high point not just for the series, but for Big Finish’s output as a whole. We’re so lucky to have it.